Ash receptacle



June 17, 1941. J, VISSER ASH RECEPTACLE Filed July 1, 1939 JOHN V/SSERPatented June 17, 1941,

ASH RECEPTACLE John Visser, Grand Rapids, Mich, assignor, by meaneassignments, to Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Detroit, Mich., acorporation of the United States Application July 1, 1939, Serial No.282,432

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a container adapted to be moved in and outbelow a supporting structure, and more particularly to an ash receptacleoperable in a drawer-like manner below the lower edge of a supportingpanel.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved supportingstructure for a container in which structure the container is adapted tobe moved into and out of accessible position with a minimum amount ofbinding and friction.

Another object of this invention is to provide an ash receptacle and asupporting structure therefor with improved resilient means to exert apressure between the receptacle and the supporting structure to hold thereceptacle against rattling in the supporting structure irrespective ofwhether the receptacle be in an open or closed position.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a snuffer and ananti-rattle spring combined and made of a single piece of metal and easyand economical to manufacture and assemble.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved anti-rattlespring for a slidable ash receptacle, which is adapted to bear againstthe ash receptacle support at two longitudinally spaced points in orderto prevent rocking or tilting of the ash receptacle at all times.

Another object of this invention is to provide a snufler formed as apart of an anti-rattle spring of an ash receptacle, whereby the additionof the snuiier to the structure requires little or no added material orlabor..

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a; simpleand effective means of securing an anti-rattle spring to a slidable ashreceptacle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ash receptaclehaving an ornamental front adapted to serve as a means by which the ashreceptacle may be drawn out into its open position.

Other objects and features of this invention will more fully appear fromthe following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, which illustrate two of the preferred embodimentsthereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a face view of one of the preferred embodiments of my novelcontainer or ash receptacle structure;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the ash receptacle structure shown in Figure1, a portion thereof being broken away to more clearly show theconstruction Figure 3 is a cross section taken on the line IIIIII ofFigure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a section on the line IV-IV of Figure 2, looking in thedirection of the arrows, and is on an enlarged scale; and

Figure 5 is a portion of a section similar to the left part of Figure 3and showing a modified form of the invention.

As shown on the drawing: I

One of the preferred forms of the invention is designed to be mountedupon the rearwardly projecting flange ll of an instrument panel ill, andcomprises two principal parts, a retainer I! which is fixed to theinstrument panel flange II by suitable bolts i3 and a drawer-likeashreceptacle H which is slidably supported by the retainer I2 and canbe drawn out to its open position, shown in dotted lines in Figure 3,from under the instrument panel Ill.

The retainer I2 is formed of a single rectangular piece of sheet metalbent and stamped into the desired shape. The retainer i2 is formed witha pair of flat, longitudinally extending ribs i5 which formreinforcements through which are punched the holes l6 for the bolts l3which fix the retainer in position. Along the center of the retainer i2,there is provided a pair of small narrow ribs H which project below thesurface of the main portion of the retainer and form tracks which arepressed upon from underneath by a spring I8 carried by the drawer l4 anddescribed in detail below. Near the front edge of the retainer l2, asmall downwardly projecting stop i9 is stamped out of the metal betweenthe two ribs l1 and is adapted to engage a portion of the spring It onthe drawer I4, as will be explained in greater detail below.

The two lateral edges of the retainer I! are bent down to form dependingflanges 2| at the sides of the retainer and are then bent diagonally into form longitudinally extending, laterally sloping tracks 22 upon whichthe ash retainer I4 is supported.

The body or main portion 23 of the ash retainer It may be formed fromseveral pieces of sheet metal spot welded together, or may be drawn in asingle piece, the latter construction being the one shown in thedrawing. The general shape of the ash receptacle body 23 is that of anopen topped box or drawer. Near the top, the two lateral sides of'theash receptacle body 23 flare out at an oblique angle to form slideportions 24 adapted to rest upon the track portion 22 of the retainerand to thus slidably support the ash receptacle. The sides of the ashered by a decorative and ornamental face plate 26 which may be formed ofa plastic or any other suitable material. In the form of the inventionshown in Figures 1 to 4, the face plate 26 is formed with a transverselyextending projection 21, which serves as a handle, and its lower partcurves around under the front of the ash receptacle body 23, as shown inFigure 3. In order to enhance its appearance, the front of the faceplate 26 is formed with a vertical rib 28 below each end of the handle21, and the handle 21 is formed with a central vertical slot 29 dividingit into two portions. The face plate is secured in place by a pair ofscrews 3i which extend through the front of the ash receptacle body 23and into the handle portion 21 of the face plate, and by a singlecentrally located screw 32 which extends up through the portion of theface plate extending around under the frontof the ash receptacle bodyand through the bottom of the ash receptacle body. The screw 32,extending up through the rearward extension of the face member 26, isplaced far enough back so that it cannot be seen by a person seated inthe normal position facing the ash receptacle, and the screws 3|,extending into the handle portion 21, fit into blind holes. Thus, theentire means forsecuring the face member 26 are normally concealed.

The spring l8, which bears against the two small ribs I! on the bottomof the retainer I2, extends longitudinally of the ash receptacle I4 andis carried by the front and rear walls thereof. The front end 33 of thespring l8 fits into a notch in the front wall of the ash receptacle body23 and extends down a short distance between the front of the ashreceptacle body and the back of the face plate 26, terminating in ashort lip 34 which extends forward into a slot in the back of the faceplate 26. This holds the front end of the spring I8 in place andprevents the entire spring from sliding forward or backward. The rearend of the spring l8 passes over a lug 31 stamped out of the containerbody 23 and through an aperture 38 which'is formed in part by thestamping out of the lug 31.

The forward portion of the spring I8 is shaped and punched out to form ashallow cup 39 having a pair of cross bars 4| extending across itsotherwise open bottom. The cup 39 serves as a snuffer into which thelighted end of a cigarette can be inserted and twisted around, the crossbars with the stop l9 at the front of the'retainer l2 and which extendsup the front of the hump 42 to the horizontal top portion 44 of thehump. This permits the front edge of the horizontal top 44 of the humpto engage the stop IS on the retainer when the ash receptacle I4 isdrawn forward to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 3 andmakes the stop l9 effective instead of allowing it to ride over thesloping front surface of the hump 42. At either side of the hump 42, thespring l8, which is weakened at this point by the hole 43, isstrengthened by a narrow depending flange 45.

The rear end of the spring I8, which projects through the aperture 38 inthe back wall of the ash receptacle 23, extends out a short distance andthen curves up and back upon itself and passes forward over the backof,the ash receptacle body 23. The extreme end of the spring 18 iscurved and slotted longitudinally to provide two laterally spacedrounded portions 46 which bear up against the small ribs I1 on thebottom of the retainer l2,

It will be noted that the spring l8, which forms a part of the ashreceptacle [4, presses up against each of the small ribs II at twolongitudinally spaced points, one at the central hump 42 and the otherat the end 46. The pressure thus applied prevents the ash receptacle [4from rocking or tipping fore and aft even when it is withdrawn to itsopen position and only a short length of each of the slide portions 24is in contact with the tracks 22 on the retainer. It may also be notedthat, when the ash receptacle [4 is withdrawn to its open position andthe top 44 of the hump is engaged with the stop IS on the retainer, thecentral portion of the spring may be fiexed downwardly by applyingpressure to it immediately in front of the hump 42, and that the springmay thereby be disengaged from the stop l9. This permits the ashreceptacle M to be withdrawn completely from the retainer l2 and thecontents of the receptacle emptied. It will be noted that the endportions 46 at the end of the spring are separated by a slot and that.when the ash receptacle is being withdrawn completely from the retainer.these end portions 46 will pass at each side of the stop l9 and presentno obstacle to the complete withdrawal of the ash receptacle.

The modified form of ash receptacle 5| and retainer 52 are similar inmost respects to the form shown in Figures 1 to 4. The chief differenceis that the lower portion 53 of the front of the ash receptacle body 54slopes back' away from the lower portion of the face member 55, whichissecured to the upper portion 51 of the front of the ash receptacle bodyby a pair of screws 56. Thus, a nook 58 is provided behind the lowerpart of the face member 55 into which the fingers can be hooked in orderto withdraw the ash receptacle 5|. This makes it unnecessary to providea projecting handle portion, and permits the ash receptacle to fit intoa design of instrument panel assembly in which such a projecting handleportion might be objectionable. In the particular design shown in Figure5, the instrument panel 59 is provided with portions 6| which extenddown at each side of the ash receptacle 5|, so that the face member 55and the surrounding portions of the instrument panel 59 present asubstantially smooth and level surface.

It will, of course, be understood that various details 'of constructionmay be varied through a wide range without departing from the principlesof this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit thepatent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of theappended claims.

an aperture in said rear wall member and having the front end thereofextending over the top out of said front wall member and down betweensaid front wall member and said face member, the extreme end of saiddownwardly projecting portion of said front end of said spring beingformed to provide a horizontally extending lip engaging a shoulder onone of said members for preventing upward movement of said front end ofsaid p g.

2. In an ash receptacle structure a retainer, an ash receptacle,cooperating means on said retainer and receptacle for guiding saidreceptacle in movements between open and closed positions,

